


Your Silence Is Required

by ItspronouncedJulia



Series: The Edge of Dawn [4]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Claude and Byleth are best buds, Dimitri is just trying to be helpful, Discovery, F/F, Guilt, Secret Relationship, Teacher-Student Relationship, Threats of Violence, protective Claude, protective Dimitri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-03 18:23:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20457443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItspronouncedJulia/pseuds/ItspronouncedJulia
Summary: Two times Byleth and Edelgard are caught. Two times only Edelgard notices. Two times she has to clean up the mess and make sure, for Byleth's own sake, that their relationship is kept a secret.





	1. Dimitri

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dimitri faces Edelgard's wrath when he sees something he should not have.

It was the dead of night when Dimitri finally decided to head back to his dorm. He had spent most of his free day in the Knights Hall training rigorously as he usually did. His muscles ached and his eyes burned from exhaustion as he walked across the grassy field of the Officers Academy. The full moon was high in the sky and there was a slight chill in the air.

He was walking past The Black Eagles classroom when he heard an odd muffled noise coming from within. Dimitri came to a stop and frowned as he glanced over at the shut classroom doors. _ “Odd…” _ He thought, rarely were any of the classroom doors shut. _ “The last time The Black Eagles had their classroom doors closed odd noises were coming from inside as well...I had heard rumors there had been brawling…” _

He jumped when he heard the noise again this time a little louder. With a scowl he began to move towards the shut doors determined to catch anyone who might be engaging in any illicit fighting. _ “At this hour no less! I always knew The Black Eagles House was filled with nothing but hooligans despite their sanctimonious attitude.” _

Reaching forward he placed his hands on the handles of the double doors and as quietly as possible he began to open them as to not alert the offenders. He wanted to catch them both in the act so to have full proof when he went to report them to their professor. Leaning forward he peered through the small crack between the doors and felt his heart come to a sudden stop.

His eyes grew to the size of saucers and he felt a sick feeling in his stomach at the sight in front of him. Edelgard was sitting on the edge of one of the desks closest to the front of the classroom. Her shorts and leggings were pulled down to her ankles and Professor Byleth was kneeling in front of her with her face buried between her thighs. 

Dimitri felt all the blood in his body rush to his face as he watched the scene unfolding in front of him. Byleth had her hands braced on Edelgard’s legs as she eagerly pleased the younger woman while Edelgard had her left hand buried in Byleth’s dark blue hair in order to keep her held in place. Edelgard's back was arched and her chest was heaving heavily.

She let out a low moan at the same time Dimitri gasped softly. Reaching forward he clamped his hand over his mouth and froze. His heart began to slam against his chest furiously, he was unsure if they had heard him or not. When neither of them immediately stopped he figured he was in the clear.

Taking a step back he decided it would be best to leave now while he still could but just as he was drawing the doors shut his eyes caught Edelgard’s hooded gaze for a brief moment before silently shutting the doors. 

Spinning around Dimitri hurried towards his dorm his mind racing with what he had just witnessed. He could barely process the images in his mind as he slipped into his dorm. His heart was still pounding. 

_ “...Edelgard...she must have saw me…” _ Uncertain what to do he stripped off his clothes and crawled into bed. _ “If I live to see tomorrow I shall take this matter directly to The Archbishop but for now I wait.” _Dimitri watched the door intently despite his eyes growing heavy. He knew his gaze had met Edelgard’s and he knew that as long as he held this secret, he would not be safe from her wrath. 

-

The next few days passed without incident. A few times Dimitri tried to go to The Archbishop but at the last moment fled. He found he did not have the courage to report what he had seen mainly because he was doubting if he had seen it at all to begin with. 

He had been exhausted the other night, it was late, and he had spent all day training with all of his might. Perhaps it was possible he had just hallucinated the whole thing or dreamt it. Dimitri didn’t want to get the Professor in any trouble if he wasn’t one hundred percent sure what he saw actually happened. 

The biggest seed of doubt for Dimitri was Edelgard herself. He had been mostly avoiding her, which wasn’t too difficult considering their paths usually did not cross, but the few times they did she seemed...normal. He was sure that night their eyes had met but Edelgard was acting as if nothing happened.

_ “So, perhaps nothing did.” _Dimitri concluded. 

-

The moon was full again tonight and as Dimitri passed The Black Eagles classroom he paused. The doors were open and it was thankfully empty. Dimitri pushed forward and headed towards the Knight's Hall to train. When he got there he stopped in the archway that lead into the hall. His heart twisted as he watched Edelgard swinging her axe at one of the armored training dummies. She was here by herself with her back turned to him, still he knew she was aware of his presence. 

“What are you doing here?” Dimitri demanded as he began to walk down the steps. It was rare to ever find Edelgard within this hall during the day, let alone in the dead of night. “You should be in bed at this hour.” 

“You sound like my father,” Edelgard laughed as she turned to look at him. “It’s not a crime to be here is it? Last time I checked there wasn’t a curfew to follow. You’re not the only one who wants to do some midnight training you know.” Dimitri frowned as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Is the training yard full?” He asked with a frown. 

“You seem to be very territorial over this Knight’s Hall Dimitri,” Edelgard teased as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Or perhaps you just don't want me around while you train, afraid I'll witness your subpar skills?” Dimitri scowled but for a moment said nothing. Taking in a deep breath he gathered his courage and finally spoke the thoughts that were plaguing him.

“Can we speak about what happened the other night?” He asked.

“I think that would be an excellent idea,” Edelgard’s words caused Dimitri’s mouth to fall open. He had been bracing himself for denial. 

“So what I saw the other night was real.” He muttered mostly to myself.

“Did you think you were dreaming?” Edelgard scoffed. “Although, I can’t say I haven’t had the same dream myself a million times over.” Edelgard added her tone becoming more understanding as she spoke. Dimitri blushed and turned his head away from her. 

“Don't speak with such vulgarity!” Dimitri snapped as he curled his hands into fists. “The other night was serious, don't you understand the repercussions of what happened?” Dimitri demanded letting his shoulders fall as he spoke.

“Apart of me feels as though I’ve failed you, I’ve been so torn over what I saw that I’ve yet been able to muster up the courage to tell Lady Rhea about it,” Dimitri said dropping his eyes to his feet.

“You won’t be telling Lady Rhea a thing,” Edelgard said simply. 

“I had a feeling you would say that,” Dimitri said honestly. This whole week Dimitri had played over the multiple ways this conversation could go if he ever got the nerve to confront Edelgard about what he saw. He feared this would be her most likely response. “But I can not hold onto this secret forever, the guilt is crushing me.”

“What guilt?” Edelgard asked. “The only guilt you should be feeling is over the fact that you’re a voyeur.”

“Edelgard. You’re speaking so flippantly but please consider the gravity of this situation,” Dimitri pleaded. “You were engaging in sexual intercourse with a teacher, this can not be something swept underneath the rug.” 

“I understand the gravity of this situation better than anyone else in the monastery,” Edelgard said her voice dropping into a more serious tone. “If the true nature of my relationship with the professor was to ever get out, then her reputation will be ruined-”

“As it should be!” Dimitri exclaimed. “She’s taking advantage of you-” Dimitri was cut off by a sharp slap across the face. He stumbled backwards and snapped his head back up to look at her with shocked eyes.

“I am not being taken advantage of.” Edelgard said lowly. 

“She’s a teacher and you’re her student,” Dimitri explained causing Edelgard to roll her eyes.

“Her being my professor has no bearing over me. We’re practically the same age.”

“You don't know that,” Dimitri said quickly. “I’ve heard tell that the professor isn’t even sure of her own age how could you be? Furthermore, her being your teacher does hold bearing over you! She’s in a position of power over you and abusing it!” 

“I am the Imperial Princess of the Adrestian Empire, the only person in a position of power over me is my father, the Emperor.” Edelgard said harshly causing Dimitri to sigh. He knew she was going to say something along those lines. 

“You’re too far in to see how detrimental this situation is,” Dimitri said before he made the mistake of turning his back to her. “Tomorrow morning I’m going to Archbishop Rhea and telling her what’s going on.”

Dimitri took one step forward before something sped past his head. His eyes went wide as he watched a hand axe fly past him and bury its head into the stone wall of the Knight’s Hall. A few strands of blonde hair dropped down to Dimitri’s shoulder but he hardly paid attention to that. 

_ “How hard did she throw that in order to have it stick into a stone wall?!” _He thought with wide eyes. A second later another axe speed by the other side of his head and buried itself next to the other, creating an X. 

“Your silence is required Dimitri,” Edelgard said softly. Dimitri tensed as he heard her footsteps behind him. “I can’t allow you to leave here with the intention of making the relationship I have with Professor Byleth known to anyone who may attempt to get between us. One day Byleth and I will be bound together publicly but until then no one is to know.”

“And yet I do,” Dimitri said slowly turning. He wasn’t surprised to find the axe Edelgard had been training with pressed against his throat.

“But you’re going to forget you know,” Edelgard said making herself perfectly clear. “And from this night on if I find out you have chosen to ignore this warning then I will slice that pretty head off of your shoulders and adorn it on my throne in Enbarr right beside Claude’s.” She threatened.

“Claude?” Dimitri muttered. 

“Yes Claude,” she said coolly. “Do I make myself clear Dimitri?” 

“Yes. Crystal, you have my silence Edelgard.” A shiver of dread rolled down his spine as she smiled and pulled her axe away from his throat. 

“I knew you would see reason,” she said swinging her axe onto her shoulder. Dimitri frowned as he watched her move past him to retrieve her other axes.

“Why do you have three axes with you?” He questioned.

“Incase I ran into a rat,” she said airily.

“And here I thought you ran from rats,” He scoffed as the meaning of her words sunk in. 

“Only the ones that scurry around on four feet.”


	2. Claude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In his eagerness to share with Byleth his recent discovery, Claude ruins a perfectly peaceful evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little spoilery at the beginning. Read at your own risk.

Claude tapped his fingers against the cover of his book, contemplating as to what he was going to do. Shifting from one foot to another he weighed out the pros and cons of his next action. He was standing in front of Byleth’s door in the dead of night. The moon was shrouded by a thicket of clouds and there was a warm breeze in the air.

So far on his walk back from the library he had yet to see another living soul. The last person he had seen was Byleth herself before departing from the library hours earlier. They had spent their whole Sunday there, steep in research.

Last week Claude had found a peculiar drawing hidden away in the shelves of the library. The image was of a fearsome looking dragon titled the Immaculate One. There was not much more information on the paper but it had been yellow with age and had felt delicate in his hands. Claude could tell it had been ripped from a book but so far could not find the book it had been taken from.

His task to find the tome had been made all that much harder by Seteth who had found Claude explaining his find to Byleth before taking the paper. When Byleth question why Seteth was taking it he had shrugged her off and gave her a vague answer. Claude and Byleth both had agreed something odd was going on and set out to find more information on the Immaculate One. They began to look for any book they could on dragons but so far had found nothing but fairytales and the history of Wyvern’s throughout Fódlan.

Until now. Claude had found a book mentioning something about a fearsome white dragon that once roamed the skies of Fódlan. Claude wasn’t sure if it was another fairytale or an actual account. Either way he thought Byleth would be very interested to see it. He rushed over to her room as soon as he found it but now found himself hesitant to knock on the door or poke his head in.

She told him the other day that her door was always open but he wasn’t sure if that invitation extended to well after midnight. Claude began to chew the inside of his cheek as he thought it over. 

_ “She’s probably asleep,”  _ Claude thought.  _ “But then again she might not be and she said she wanted to know right away if I found anything...this is something…and everyone knows It’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission.”  _ Making his decision Claude reached forward and rested his hand on the door knob. He decided not to knock incase she was asleep he didn’t want to wake her up. If anything he would poke his head in and assess the situation. If she was sleeping he would go, if she was awake he would hope she would be so amazed by his discovery that she wouldn’t be mad at his late night pop in. 

Very carefully Claude opened the door and poked his head into the room. For a moment he was relieved to see the glow of candles softly illuminating the room. Smiling he scanned the room and found who he was looking for.

And someone else.

Claude’s eyes almost popped out of his head. Byleth was in fact asleep, she was sprawled out across her bed snoring softly, dead to the entire world. Beside her Edelgard was tucked underneath the blankets, clearly naked underneath. She was propped up against the pillows with a piece of parchment in one hand and a quill in the other. 

A long, tortuous moment past as Edelgard and Claude’s eyes locked with one another. He felt his heart begin to quicken at the discovery. 

Edelgard’s nostrils flared and Claude quickly backed away, gently shutting the door behind him as he left. Spinning around, he began to take off towards the second floor dorms as fast he could. 

He sprinted up the stairs taking them two at a time before speeding down the long corridor of the second floor. Bursting into his bedroom he moved to shut the door but before it could catch someone slammed into it causing Claude to stumble backwards. His eyes grew wide at the sight of Edelgard in the doorway, fully dressed and presentable.

“How did you do that so-”

“Lower your voice,” she hissed as she entered his room. 

“Alright there’s no need to start fighting,” Claude said with as easy going smile. “Or to start threatening, your secret is safe with me Edelgard.” He promised, a look of disbelief crossed her face but Claude expected no less. 

“Liar,” Edelgard said softly. 

" I’m not sure what you want me to say to get you to believe me,” Claude said with a shrug. “But Byleth is my friend, I’m not going to put her career in jeopardy for no reason. She’s basically our age, I don't see the big deal.” 

“ _ Professor  _ Byleth is your teacher not your friend,” Edelgard corrected harshly. “Don't confused her kindness for friendship.” Claude narrowed his eyes at Edelgard. He took a step away from her as she moved forward.

“Perhaps you shouldn’t mistake her lust for something else,” Claude laughed, trying to appear as cool as possible. He would never let it show but it was painful to hear Edelgard say that Byleth did not consider him to be a friend. Apart of him wondered if there was any truth to Edelgard’s statement. Obviously she was a lot closer to Byleth than Claude might have originally thought. 

“Trust me I haven’t misread anything,” Edelgard said confidently. “So let’s talk-”

“Isn’t that what we’re doing now?” Claude asked as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Listen, there’s no need to make enemies with one another. We have the same goal, so let’s shake hands and not grisly attack one another.” 

“Come on, we both know who would win a bloody fight between us.” He prompted with a wink when Edelgard remained silent. 

“Which is why I don't see why I should just walk away,” Edelgard said. Despite the situation Claude couldn’t help but chuckle. 

“You have my word I won’t say anything.” Claude said.

“Your word means less than nothing to me,” Edelgard replied coldly. 

“Fine. I don't know how to convince you that I won’t say a word.” Claude said with a shrug. “Short of cutting out my tongue and lopping off my fingers so I can not communicate with the outside world you’ll just have to trust me that you have my oath of silence.” He said putting his left hand up in the air.

“You use the right when making an oath,” Edelgard said her annoyance dripping from every word she spoke. Claude winked at her as a sly smirk curled across his lips.

-

A very long month passed with Edelgard keeping Claude under tight surveillance. He felt like he couldn’t make a move without her knowing about it. A few times he had found Hubert lurking in the shadows, no doubt he wanted to make his presence known so Claude understood he was being watched. 

Nothing with Byleth seemed off which let Claude know Edelgard had kept her in the dark about the incident. The two continued their research pulling up just short of nothing and everything else seemed like business as usual. Today he found himself sitting on the pier outside of the mess hall watching shadows of fish swim by.

“Claude!” He turned his head and smiled as he saw Byleth approaching. 

“Hey Teach!” 

“I was hoping I would find you before the end of the day. Is there any way I can convince you to come on this months mission with my class and I?” Byleth asked. “Lady Rhea seems to think there will be plenty of Pegasus Knights and Wyvern Knights to go around on the enemies side. I could use a few more archers.”

“I’m always down to lend a helping hand,” Claude said happily. “You didn’t even have to ask.” 

“Good. I’ve scouted Ignatz and Ashe as well, we’ll leave next Sunday at dawn so try not to be late.” Claude nodded before pushing himself up to his feet. 

“Hey wanna grab lunch?”

“I was about to suggest the idea,” Byleth said before leading them towards the mess hall.

“Hey Teach could I ask you something?” Claude asked.

“You just did.” 

“I’m being serious!” Claude exclaimed with a bright smile. “Would you consider you and I friends?” Edelgard had planted a seed of doubt within Claude's mind and it had been bothering him all month. He could not shake her cold words from his mind.  


“The best,” Byleth said with a kind smile. Claude could see the truth shining in her eyes. “Dare I ask why you’re questioning our friendship?” Claude laughed and shook his head.

“It’s just...I’ll always have your back my friend.” He said warmly. 

“I never had doubt of that Claude.” 


End file.
